Labor rally before annual Labor Day Parade in downtown St. Louis

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

ST. LOUIS - This year's Labor Day came with a push for higher wages for Missouri laborers, as a coalition planned a rally Monday morning before the start of the annual Labor Day Parade in Downtown St. Louis.

A coalition of groups called United We Stand St. Louis gathered on North Tucker Boulevard at Biddle Street at 6 a.m. The group marched to N. 19th and Olive streets to hold a rally before the big parade.

The groups advocate for workers across the country, who are fighting for higher minimum wages and union rights.

A new state law went into effect in Missouri on August 28, barring cities from having a minimum wage higher than the state's wage of $7.70 an hour.

In May, a $10 an hour minimum wage went into effect in both St. Louis and Kansas City. At that time, 30,000 St. Louis city workers received a raise to the new minimum.

Nearly 150 St. Louis businesses say they will continue honoring the $10 an hour minimum wage despite the new law.

Signatures are being collected to put a $12 an hour minimum wage issue on a statewide ballot.